Sanders claims third boulder gold as China's Zhang earns breakthrough bronze in Prague

PRAGUE, June 6 (Xinhua) -- American climber Annie Sanders won her third women's boulder title, while China's Zhang Yuetong claimed a breakthrough bronze medal in her first-ever World Climbing Series final at the Prague stop on Saturday.

Sanders secured victory with a composed performance in a dramatic final, flashing the final two boulders to overturn a deficit and finish ahead of Britain's Erin McNeice and Zhang.

The American, who has already established herself as one of the dominant climbers of the 2026 season, added a third boulder gold medal to her growing collection after prevailing in a final that remained undecided until the last problem.

Zhang, 23, delivered the best result of her international career by reaching a World Climbing Series boulder final for the first time and then stepping onto the podium.

Earlier in the day, she produced the strongest semifinal performance of her career, topping three of four boulders to advance to the final in sixth place.

Her medal bid appeared in jeopardy after she failed to complete either of the first two final problems and slipped outside the top six. However, Zhang revived her challenge on the third boulder, a balance-intensive problem that she topped in just two attempts.

The decisive fourth boulder proved pivotal in determining the medal positions. Several finalists struggled around the zone hold on a sequence that required advanced hand-jam technique, but only Sanders, McNeice and Zhang managed to top the problem, with all three doing so on their first attempts.

Those performances reshuffled the leaderboard, lifting Sanders into first place while McNeice and Zhang took silver and bronze, respectively.

The podium finish made Zhang only the third Chinese climber to claim a World Climbing Series or World Cup medal in boulder competition, after Luo Zhilu took bronze in 2022 and Pan Yufei captured a gold medal in Bern last year on the men's side.

Zhang's breakthrough followed several near misses. Since making her World Cup debut in 2019, she had competed in 24 boulder events before Prague, reaching 10 semifinals but never advancing to a final. Earlier this season, she finished ninth twice, missing the final round by just one place on both occasions.

Luo finished 22nd after reaching a World Climbing Series boulder semifinal for the first time in more than two years while continuing her return from a long-term shoulder injury. Enditem